Prep basketball:

Findlay flies away in 137-95 season-opening victory

Ace guard Cory Joseph paces Pilots with 28 points in romp of National College Prep

Rob Miech

Findlay College Prep newcomers Nick Johnson (left) and Jabari Brown chipped in with 21 and 26 points, respectively, Friday night in the Pilots’ 137-95 smashing of National College Prep.

By Rob Miech (contact)

Friday, Nov. 13, 2009 | 10:53 p.m.

All Findlay Prep coverage

It’s a new Findlay College Prep basketball team, which made coach Mike Peck a little nervous Friday night.

The results, however, were more of the same as the ESPN defending national-champion Pilots blasted National College Prep, 137-95, in their season opener at the Henderson International School.

Cory Joseph, the nation’s best prep point guard, led Findlay with 28 points, and Jabari Brown (26 points) and Nick Johnson (21) made impacts in their debuts as Pilots.

“We wanted to come out strong and show all the hard work we’ve been putting in,” said Brown, a 6-foot-3 junior from Oakland, Calif.

Johnson, a 6-3 junior from Gilbert, Ariz., finished the game in Globetrotter fashion.

He had a break-away 360-degree dunk, a tip jam from the right side on Brown’s missed jumper and then a resounding reverse cram off Nigel William-Goss’s back pass between his legs.

“A little something for the crowd,” said Johnson.

Peck is 66-1 in three seasons running the Pilots.

“If it’s going to go like this, I’ll be exhausted by Christmas,” he said with a slight smile. “There was just a lot of anticipation for the first one.”

UNLV players and Findlay graduates Brice Massamba and Carlos Lopez attended the game and howled when Godwin Okonji, a three-year Pilot, made it 98-68 with a powerful dunk in transition.

National coach Bill Hankins left the Henderson International gym with wide eyes and shaking his head.

“Never in a million years did I think we’d get blown out like this,” he said. “We had a good preseason, against junior colleges, but these guys got to see what elite basketball is all about.

“I’m shocked. I wanted to play well. I thought we would. I thought we had a chance to win. I was wrong, very wrong. I’m in disbelief.”

The Toreadors were led by Willie Hankins, the coach’s son who started at Findlay last season but left by the time the Pilots went to Maryland to cap their third season with a national crown.

Findlay led from start to finish, and it pulled away with 11 consecutive points, started and finished by Joseph 3-point shots, in the first half for a 23-10 advantage.

Another Joseph 3-pointer at the end of the first half pumped Findlay’s edge to 66-48.

The Pilots came out of their locker room racing, and in the first six minutes of the second half they pelted National with a devastating run.

Senior power forwards Tristan Thompson and Okonji ran the court well and finished, and got to the line, and Brown’s dunk and easy inside basket made it 88-54.

“Each of our games is going to be like a national championship game,” said Thompson, who had 22 points. “And for our opponents, this is like their Super Bowl … their World Series. A thousand kids want to play us.”

Only a chosen few get to play for Peck, though, and he made an addition to his roster Friday when Henry Uwadiae landed in Las Vegas in the middle of the afternoon.

With the proper visas and other paperwork completed, the 6-10, 200-pound sophomore left Benin City, Nigeria, for Atlanta, then caught a plane to Las Vegas.

With Aussie center Dekeeba Battee-Aston, a sophomore, Peck has his low-post game of the future on deck and an invaluable 10th player for practice.

For the first time in two seasons, the Pilots will be able to run five-on-five scrimmage sessions.

“We had a good day,” Joseph said of his team’s 137 points. “People were hittin’ shots and feelin’ good. We can improve on our defense, but for our first game everyone played hard and well.”

Findlay plays Impact Academy on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Henderson International.

Discussion: 7 comments so far…

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By ryphi

Nov. 13, 2009

11:17 p.m.

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Nigel Williams Goss is going to be in the NBA. He is sooo good. I would take any of these guys on UNLV's roster. Cory Joseph and Nick Johnson are on my wish list for UNLV recruits. I wouldn't agree with Jabari Brown either though. Man, that team is going to so fun to watch this year.
By Lenny_V

Nov. 14, 2009

12:30 a.m.

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I might have to check these guys out. When's the next home game?
By johnvegas

Nov. 14, 2009

7:32 a.m.

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You can keep up with Findlay this year. Check out http://www.lasvegassun.com/findlay
By lcsw

Nov. 14, 2009

9:42 a.m.

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ryphi, we don't need comments from people like you who base their assessment of young players solely on emotion. You are right NWG, CJ and NJ are definitely very skilled and exciting players. But if you believe JB can't contribute to any college program in this country, you expose to the world your minimal understanding of the game of basketball. Moreover, it ain't cool to gas any kid, especially when they've got the guts to put it on the line in high level competition. Bottom line, Findlay has a great group of young men who possess intelligence, academic motivation and character. Why don't you display a little of the latter?
By Rob Miech

Nov. 14, 2009

3:07 p.m.

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Jabari Brown is solid, as a player and person. No doubt, lcsw, many, many D-I programs would like to have him on their roster. As if a team could be more fun to watch coming off a national championship season, this is it. Lenny, I included their next game at the bottom of my story. Pop in today before the UNLV opener -- that's what I'm doin!!!! :-)
By Canes4life

Nov. 14, 2009

4:17 p.m.

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Let me first state that I am a huge Findlay Prep fan, didn't miss 1 home game last year and just overall love the program. However, I know its Game # 1 but to think that this team is anywhere near last year's team is a bit absurd. Last year's team was quite possibly the best high school basketball team ever assembled. To be brutally honest giving up nearly 100 points in a game to National College Prep(an average team at best) was borderline embarassing. This year's team has an abundance of talent, but they are young and inexperienced and have yet to grasp Coach Peck's suffocating defensive philosophy. I don't know how many times last night the opposing team was allowed to casually dribble the ball in the lane with no resistance at all. There's no ball pressure, too many open looks were allowed, and instead of moving their feet to play defense they relied on using their hands to hold the defender. Both teams throughout the night were called for hand-checking fouls, as a majority of the game was a free-throw contest. Also, a major concern for me was the inside play. Findlay allowed more rebounds than usual against a team that was severely undermanned size wise. Yes, all these issues can be corrected, but to think this team is going to duplicate what they did last year may be a little unfair to this new group of players. Not to mention Findlay has constructed one of the toughest schedules in the nation. They have at least 8 games versus teams ranked in the Top 50 nationally, and play two of the best big men in the country in 6'11" Perry Jones and 6'9" Jared Sullinger. It should be a solid season overall, but if the Pilots run the table with this schedule there should be a parade for them on the Strip at the end of the season.
By ront2

Nov. 14, 2009

9:47 p.m.

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This team is loaded; glad to hear about the addition of Henry Uwadiae. Friday's game (Nov. 13) looked like we played some zone D. Appeared like either a 1-2-2 or 3-2. Perhaps... better rebounding & overall defense with *man to man* D. Love our intensity, speed and effort. Go Findlay!!!